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REMARKS 



JOHN D. DEFREES, 



EKKORE THE 



INDIANA UNION OLUB OF WASHINGTON, D. C. 

MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 1, 186-1. 



PUBLISHED AND CIRCULATED BY THE INDIANA UNION CLUB. 



We are soon to exercise the elective franchise, secured to us 
by our admirable form of government. 

Every citizen should desire to use it so as to produce the great- 
est good to the country. To do so he ought to seek every possi- 
ble means of forming a correct judgment ; and when his mind is 
made up, his own conviction of the right ought to control him, 
unawed by partizan prejudice or by the clamor of those who as- 
sume to be party leaders. 

To aid in forming a correct judgment it is well to bring to our 
recollection many historical facts, which cannot be contradicted 
or perverted. 

Directly after the American Revolution the States entered into 
articles of confederation for their government. The experiment 
proved a failure. The subsequent formation and adoption of the 
federal Constitution was for the purpose of " securing a more per- 
fect Union ; " of constituting the United States one nation — a 
Republic — or, in the language of Washington, of "consolidating 
the Union." 

So complete a system of government never before existed, and 
it became the admiration of the lovers of liberty throughout the 
world. The prayers of its founders, as they passed from earth, 
were for its perpetuity. It was received by their children an 1 
cherished as an inheritance above all price. With them the man 
who dared to lisp of its destruction was branded as a traitor and 
an enemy of mankind. 

L. loweis, pimfcei-. 




2 

In time, bold, bad men, disap] cis aspira- 

tions, began to conspire for its overthrow* They knew that their 
jii» could only be accompli h the means of party 

organization. The democratic party, which then had th 
ency, was d for that purpose. They became its leaders 

and began insidiously to poiBon the minds of thete followers. 

It would require more tittle than allowed in an ordinary 
address to give the progress of their plans, but the result is to 
he seen in the present, condition of our country. 

Notwithstanding the efforts of the conspirators favorably to 
prepare their followers for the event, when their treason culmi- 
nated in their attack upon Fort Sumpter, the whole people of the 
free States declared that they would put down th< n at 

all Imzards. Their mighty uprising for this purpose was the 
grandest and most glorious spectacle ever presented to the con- 
templation of mankind, whilst the fact that so many of the same 
people have since shown themselves lost to the feedings of patriot- 
ism which then controlled them, is the most melancholy event 
on the page of history. 

Then, they determined to stand by the President in his efforts 
to enforce the laws and to maintain the integrity and supremacy 
of the Govermeht. 

Now. many of the same men denounce all his efforts with a bit- 
terness equalled only by the denunciations of the traitors in arms 
against that Government. 

Why this change and how produced ? The answer is apparent 
— by assumed leaders of the Democratic party, who are now 
acting in concert, with the enemies of their country in the vain 
hope that they may thus achieve political power. 

Relying on arousing the partizan feelings of the past, they re- 
sort, to the most glaring falsehood's to accomplish their purpose. 
Tlu'v now tell their followers that the war was commenced by 
the people of the tree States against their innocent and inoffensive 
brethren of the South, when they know that they utter an un- 
truth. 

The people cannot be thus deceived. They remember but too 
well the action of the conspirators immediately after the election 
of Mr. Lincoln and previous to the expiration of Mr. Buchanan's 
term of office. 

Look at the record : 

December 20, 1 SGO. — Capture of Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinck- 
ney by the South Carolina troops. 



3 

January 3, 1861. — Capture of Fort Pulaski by the Savannah 
troops. 

January 3. — The United States arsenal at Mount Vernon Ala- 
bama with 200,000 stand of arms seized by the Alabama troops. 

Janury 4. — Fort Morgan in Mobile Bay taken by Alabama 
troops. 

January 9. — The United States steamer Star of the West was 
fired into and driven off by the rebel batteries on Morris Island 
when attempting to furnish Fort Sumter with supplies. 

January 9. — Mississippi seceded; vote of the convention, 84 
to 39. 

January 10. — Fort Jackson, Fort Phillip, and Pike, near New 
Orleans, captured by the Louisiana troops. 

January 11. — Alabama seceded ; vote of convention, 62 to 29. 

January 11. — Florida seceded. 

January 14. — Capture of Pensacola navy- yard and Fort McRea 
by Alabama troops. 

January 18. — Surrender of Baton Rouge arsenal to Louisiana 
troops. 

January 19. — Georgia seceded; vote of convention, 203 to ST. 

January 26. — Louisiana seceded; vote of convention, 113 to 
19. New Orleans Mint and Custom House taken. 

February 1. — Texas seceded; vote of convention, 166 to 7. 
Submitted to a vote of the people February 23 and took effect 2d 
of March. 

February 2. — Seizure of Little Rock arsenal by Arkansas 
troops. 

February 4. — Surrender of the revenue cutter Castle to the 
Albania authorities. 

February 5. — The Southern Congress met at Montgomery, 
Alabama. 

February '8. — The provisional constitution adopted. 

February 9. — Jeff Davis and Alex. Stephens were elected Pres- 
ident and Yice President of what they call the -southern confed- 
eracy. 

February 17. — Twiggs transferred the United States property in 
Texas to the rebels. 

-February 18. — Jeff Davis was inaugurated President of the 
conspirators. 

March 2 — The United States revenue cutter was seized by the 
rebels in Texas. 

Mr. Lincoln was sworn into office on March 4, 1861, after all 



the above ;able acts had taken place. Before taking the 

oath required by the Constitution, "to ex< ice of the 

President of thfe United States, and Co pre roteCt; and de- 

fend the Constitution of the United States," he read his inaugural 
address, in which he said : 

"Appr hensi m - en - I i exia imong the people of the Southern States that] by 
the accession of a Repul [ministration pertwaud their peace and per- 

Bopal securil i d. Tfiere m \ e'r baa been 

such apprehension. Indeed, the toost ampdi i to the contrary has all i he 

while existed and been open to their inspection, it is found in all the public 
speeches of him who no . 3d es you. I do but quote from those speeches 

are that "I have no power directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the insti- 
tution of slavery in the States w here it exists, i believe 1 have no lawful power to 
do so and 1 have no inclination to do so." 

The Con gf( ;u had expired the day mi which Mr. 

Lincoln was inaugurated, had done every thing in its power to dis- 
arm the apprehensions of the southern States on the same ques- 
tion,. It had passe;! a resoluion submitting an amendment of the 
Constitution so as to make any interference with slavery impos- 
sible. It created governments for three new Territories, Nervada, 
Dacotah, and Colorado, and passed no law excluding slavery from 
any of them. 

The conspirators, however, continued their efforts for the over- 
throw Of the Government : 

March 5. Beauregard assumed the command of the troops besieging Fort 
Sumpter. 

March 13. Alabama ratified the constitution of the traitor States: vote of the 
convention, 87 to G. 

March 16. Georgia ratified the constitution of the rebel States, and, previous to 
the first of April, at) the States in rebellion had done the same thing. 

The attack on Fort Sumpter was commenced on the 12th of 
April, 1S61, and after thirty-four hours bombardment it surren- 
dered. 

All this took place before Mr. Lincoln asked for troops to en- 
force the laws. 

In view of these facts, no honest man can or will say that the 
war was commenced by the present Administration. To do so 
would be a proclamation of his own infamy. 

Those of the North who are co-workers with the conspirators 
some times say, in justification, that the South had suffered wrong 
at the hands of the Northern people. The assertion is as false 
as the charge that the present Administration commenced the 
war. Let Mr. Stephens, the Vice President of the rebel States, 
be heard on that point, lie, certainly, with them is g-o^d au- 
thority. In a speech made in convention against secession, he 
said: 



"Pause, T entreat you, and consider for a moment what, reason you can give that 
will even satisfy yourselves in calmer moments — what reasons can you give to your 
fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring open us? Whal an you 

{rive to the nations of the earth to justify it? They will he I h i ■■■ ra and deliberate 
judges in this case? and to- ism or one overt act can you ;>'•; n on which to 

rest the plea of justification J What right ha9 tin- North assarted! What interest, 
of bhe*Routh has been invaded? Wh at justice has been denied? and what claim 
founded is justice and right has been withheld? Can either of you to-day name 
one governmental act of wrong deliberately and purposely done by the Government 
at Washington of which the South has a right to complain? 1 challenge the an- 
swer! While, on the other hand. let me phojv the facts (and believe me, gentle- 
men, I am not here the advocate of the North, but T am here the friend, the firm 
friend and lover of the South and h-r institutions, and for this reason [ speak thus 
plainly and faithful to ijours, mine, and every other mart's interest, the words of 
truth and Bbber e-s) of winch I wish you to judge, and 1 will only state facts which 
are clear and undeniable, and which now stiud as records authentic in the histor}' 
of our country. 

When we of the South demanded the slave trade or the importation of Africans 
for the Cultivation of our la ids, did they not yield the right for twenty years'? 
When we asked a three-fifths representation in Congress for our slaves, was it not 
granted:! When we asked and demanded the return of any fugitive from justice, 
or the recovery of tbose persons owing labor or allegiance, was it not incorporated 
in the-Constitutionl and again ratified and strengthened in the Fugitive Slave Law 
of 1850? 

Do you reply that, in many instances they have violated this compact, and have 
not been faithful to their engagements? As individuals and local communities they 
may have done so, but not by the sanction of Government, for that has always been 
true to Southern interests. Again, gentlemen, look at another fact: when we have 
asked that more territory should be added, that we might spread the institution of 
slavery, have they not yielded to our demands and given us Louisiana, Florida, and 
Texas, out of which four States have been carved, and ample territory for four more 
to be added in due time, if you, by this unwise and impolitic act, do not destroy this 
hope, and, perhaps, by it lose all, and have your last slave wrenched from you by 
stern military rule, by the vindictive decree of a universal emancipation which may 
reasonably be expected to follow ? 

But, again, gentlemen, what have we to gain by this proposed change of our re- 
lation to the General Government? We have always had the control, and can yet 
if we remain in it, and are as united as we have been. We have had a majority of 
the Presidents chosen from the South, as well as the control and management of 
those chosen from the North. We have had sixty j'ears of Southern Presidents to 
their twenty four, thus controlling the Executive Department. 

No man has controverted, or can controvert these facts. Who 
then so base as to justify the rebellion? 

AViiile the Government is using every possible effort to main- 
tain its existence, an organization has been entered into by many 
persons at the North to co-operate with the conspirators in its de- 
struction. To accomplish their object, assuming the specious 
name of the " Peace Democracy," they resort to the meanest acts 
of the most grovelling demagogue to prejudice the people against 
the Administration. Read the following extracts from speeches 
and newspapers, made and written in the North in aid of the 
conspirators. 

Speaking of President Lincoln, the Sellingrove (Pa.) Times 
says : 

" lie is a bloody monster. lie is hell's Pandora box brought to earth and re- 
opened for the destruction of this foolish people, who hug him to their bosoms un- 
til, like an Egyptian adder, he stings them to death. By his elevation to power, 



6 

every mean principle in the man's composition has been brought out and fanned 
into a blaze of destruction. Ha la a liar, a thief, a robber, a brigand, a pirate, per- 
jurer, a traitor, a coward, a hypocrite, a cheat, a trickster, a murderer, a tyrant^ 
un unmitigated BCOundrel, and an infernal fool. In less than one year he has, by 

the f'>rce of circumstai -, certainly not by his wisdom, became absolute monarch 

over a race of imbeciles, wbo, because they deserve it, have become willing slaves 
and vassals. lie commenced the present war with dishonest motives ; he Has car- 
ried it on under false pretences; and, in the end, lie will so effectually che;it tb e 
people out of their liberties that they cannot recover them unless through bloody 
revolution," 

A Mr. J. D. Murphy, a " Peace Democrat" of New Hamshire, 
on the 22d January last, emitted his poison, as follows: 

"The Democrats hive, submitted to the despotic sway of Abe Lincoln for three 
years, thinking it better to endure wrong for a short time than to risk all by a last 
appeal to arms. But now the time is coming when we can change our rulers. 
Rather th .n s ibmit tour years ionger to Abe Lincoln, and beoverrvm by the hordes 
of Ids hireling soldiery, let us ring out the cry of old, 'To your tents, () Israel ?' 
Democrats should arm and organize, and drill clubs, companies, battalions, regiments 
and brigades, for these blood thirsty abolitions and shoddyite thieves, and tiaitors 
are a wind broken, spavined, djspeptic nice, and one regiment of Democrats could 
whip three of them." 

This man is for " peace" with the conspirators, but for war with 
the freemen of the North, his neighbors! Shame ! 

Head still further extracts — the outpouring of impotent wrafch 
and vileness : 

" There has never been anything called for by the South, and there never c«n be, 
that I would not willingly consent to." — Speech of Stale Senator Clark, of Wiscon- 
son, March, 1862. 

" History will relate that we (the North) manufactured the conflict, f'orcrd it to 
hot-bed precocity, nourished and invited it — Detroit Free Press, April 16, 18G2. 

"We tell them (Congress) that a Cromwell will rise in their midst before thev 
progress too far. who will bring their heads to the block without delay or mercy." 
— Free Press, March 'it. 

" I say to you, my constituents, that, as your representative. I will never vote one 
dollar, one man. or one gun to the administration of Abraham Lincoln to make war 
upon the South." — D. W. Voorhecs, Ji. C, Seventh District, Indiana, April, 18(51. 

"The Democracy will yet teach Abe Lincoln and his co-usurpers that the way of 
the transgressors is not easy." — Hon. A. ' . Dodge, of Iowa. 

"This is a damned abolition war. We believe Abe Lincoln is as much of a traitor 
as J e if. Davis." — Ashland (Ohio) Democratic Union 

"The President and his cabinet were never worthy of the confidence of the na- 
tion. The Democratic party should never have given its aBsent to the appeal to the 
sword after the affair ot Fort, Sumter." — Detroit Fnc Press. 

'The Ahsland (Ohio) Union, a Democratic organ, speaking of our soldiers, culls 
them hired Hessians going to the sunny Southern soil to butcher by wholesale, not 
foreigners but good men, as exemplary christians as any of our men.' 

"The Crawford County Forum, referring to our soldiers, says: 

'It (the Administration) has put arms in the hands of outlaws, thieves, murder- 
ers, and traitors.,' 

"The Democratic Press, TaylorsvUle, 111., speaking of the Republican party and 
the army, says : 

" In power less than a year it has spent million* of the people's money, and five 
hundred thousand men are employed to steal negroes from their Southesn mas- 
ters." 

■' If the North and South are ever re-united, we predict it will be -when the Con- 
federate States North shall adopt their new constitution, (of Jeff. Davis,) or some- 



tiling very near like it. There's a good time coming, boys." — Van Buren County 
Press, at Paw Taw, Michi; 

'• Why Ihis expenditure of morn blood and treasure in a hopeless enterprise — why 
blame meu for being traitors. We cannot see why." — ^Detroit Free Press. 

'There, sir, is the damnable abolitionist who administers the Government. The 
people ought to rise up and by physical force, hurl him from the chair of the Gov- 
ernment, hi i tie eves of Rod and men, the ; >«">ple would be justified. They should 
do it ; and I will go with them." — Judqe Prait's Speech in the Michigan Legislature, 
Feb. 12, 1863. 

"Geo. W, Peek, of Ohio, in a speech before the Lansing Democratic Association, 
March 1863, said : 

''You Bla ;k Republicans began this war. You have carried it on for two years. 
Yon have sent your heil hounds down Smith to devastate the country ,r— and what 
have you done? You have uof conquered the South. You never can conquer 
them. And why ? Because they are our brethren." 

"John II. George, N". II., Democratic nominee for Congress, declared : 

'^.1 won't do anything to sustain the President, Congress or any of the piratical 
crew that have control of this Government. I won't do anything that can, in any 
way; be interpreted a: supporting this war." 

Mr. Charles Reeves was the leading member of the convention 
in aid of the conspirators, recently held in the ninth congres- 
sional district of Indiana, to select a candidate to run against 
Schuyler Colfax. On that occasion he delivered himself of a vio- 
let speech, advocating unconditional peace and reconstruction, 
condemning the Administration. He said that if the election 
was carried, by fraud he should advocate immediate rebellion. 
He also advocated the doctrine of State Rights as enunciated by 
his Southern brethren, and advised an alliance, offensive and de- 
fensive, with the South. He said the idea of putting down the 
rebellion had long since become impracticable, and advise'd the 
delegates to frown down all attempts to raise soldiers or men to 
prosecute this infernal war. He was loudly applauded. 

At the convention which nominated the State ticket in Indiana 

D. H. Colerick, a prominent member from Allen county, said : 

"Nine hun I ninety-iiinemenof every thousand whom r represent, breathe 

no other prayer than to have an end of this hellish war. When news of our victo- 
ries comes tin re ip no rejoicing,. When neios of our d / at c u tes then is no sorrow. 
There is a feeling which fcelts of an intense desire for peace, and we ask that some 
resolution be passed that is in union with the prayers of the heart of the Democracy 
of the country, that this horrible and bloody war must cease." 
. That the Southern portion of the conspirators fully appreciate 

the services of their Northern co-laborers is shown in the follow- 
ing article, copied froin the Atlanta (Ga.) Register, of recent 
date ; 

"Ex- President Pierce, Seymour, of Connecticut, Vallandigham, Reed, Wood, -Rich- 
ardson, and hundreds of others, are as hostile to the war as the}* are to black repub- 
licanism. These men are doing us an indirect service. They are not openly and 
avowedly our friends, nor coiild we reasonably a^k this of them. But they are not 
our bloody enemies, i hist Mr. Lincoln and his wicked policy, breasting 

iwer of an overwhelming majority, firm to the traditions and precedents of 
ntional liberty, the noble band of patriots is striving to er>»cf a breik water 
that shall arrest ihe surges of the unloosed deluge. If they did no more than re- 



8 

fist the centralization of Mr. Lincoln, that far they are worthy of our respect and 
sympathy. If they hold up the banner of State light?, that far they are advocating 
a sentiment entitled to our admiration. 

"Such is the course they are pursuing, and such a course ought to have our cor- 
dial approbation. Step by step the same convictions and the same temper that have 
braced them in compact unity and fiery valor to denounce ultra Federalism and New 
England fanaticism, will inevitably bring them upon the right ground as it respects 
our independence We confess our faith in their political principles We confess 
our confidence that eventually these men will see the whole truth and embrace all 
its conclusions. 

" We can gain nothing by denouncing them. We may lose much by presenting 
a hostile front to their peace movements. Live with them under the same govern- 
ment we never will. But, meanwhile, if they will use the, ballot-box against Mr. Lin- 
coln, while we use the cartridge box, each side will be a helper to the other, and both 
co operate to accomplish the greatest work which this country and the continent have 
witnessed." 

The Register is right. The men in Indiana and elsewhere in 
the North, banded together, by secret oaths, to aid the conspira- 
tors in the overthrow of the Government, deserve, and ought to 
receive, the "cordial approbation" of their Southern friends. 

The expectation of the conspirators to enlist the whole Demo- 
cratic party of the North in their treasonable scheme will fail. 
Thousands and tens of thousands have already denounced them, 
and other tens of thousands will do it as the infamous nature of 
those schemes become fully known. Their love of country will 
not yield to the party behests of assumed leaders. 

As the election approaches, in the vain hope of securing a few 
votes, the leaders of the Northern portion of the conspiracy are 
beginning to praise the soldiers while they denounce the war ! 
This hypocracy will not avail them. Our soldiers are as well in- 
formed as those attempting to deceive them. They know that 
these very men have denounced them as "Lincoln's hirelings," 
as "hell hounds," hired to cut the throats of the Christian gen- 
tlemen of the South who are only indulging iu the innocent 
amusement of destroying the Government! 

They know that, in our State, when a proposition was made in 
the Legislature to secure the right of soldiers in the field to vote 
it was opposed by some of these now pretended friends. 

It is true, as an electioneering trick, the conspirators on the 
State ticket, understanding that Governor Morton had asked for 
the return of the soldiers so as to recruit and vote, very magnan- 
imously, proposed to join him in doing that which he had already 
done! The object is too apparent to deceive ! 

If this is an infernal war on the part of the Union army, as 
they charge, how can they expect the vote of those engaged in 
that war? The war cannot be denounced without, at the same 
time, denouncing those engaged in it. No sophistry, no decla- 



9 

mation, no jelling about abolitionism, can blind the eyes of sen- 
sible men to any other conclusion. 

From the commencement of the rebellion to the present time 
the acts of cruelty and barbarity perpetrated by the rebels are 
more horrible than have ever occurred in any age of the world. 
The barbarity of Indian warfare bears no comparison to it. 

A rebel, Colonel Eastman, has written a book, entitled "First 
year of the War." In that book he says : 

"Like a thunderbolt, Kirby Smith fell upon the foe ; our men fought desperate, 
and in a moment the Federal troops, who had felt certain of victory, were every- 
where driven back. Scarcely had they commenced retiring; when it. became im- 
possible to restrain our troops. A giant Texan, throwing away his rifle, took out 
his bowie-knife, with one blow he split, the skull of a w< unded man who had fallen 
to the ground, and this began the signal for a general butchery. Like wild beasts 
the incensed soldiery fell upon their victims, hewing, stabbing, slashing like mad 
men ! 

" A fearful panic seizes upon the Federal troop?. Even the bravest fly before 
such an onslaught — they give way, and, in mortal fear, officers and men run for 
their lives like startled deer. * * * The savage spirit of our 

soldiers now almost bordered on the horrible. Beauregard took advantage of this 
vengeful mood ; he ordered his whole army forward, and with wild exultant cheers 
fell upon the broken enemy. Stuart had collected all his cavalry together and 
swept across the plain like a whirlwind, cleaving everything before him. 

"The enemy was now at full flight at every point, and so quick was our advance 
that all order in our ranks was lost. A rumor suddenly spread that Kirby Smith 
had fallen. A cry of anger and horror passed through the ranks of the whole 
armj\ Our troops, now maddened with rage, fell mercilessly upon their opponents 
and a fearful massacre commenced. Scenes of horrible cruelty too fearful for de- 
setiption ensued. Our men were no longer human beings; covered with blood, 
and dust, and guupowder, they fell upon their flying opponents with ungovernable 
fury!'- 

The butchery thus described by a rebel witness was followed 
by acts still more fiendish, rivaling the Scandinavians of a barbar- 
ous age, who, it is said, drank wine from the skulls of their 
slaughtered foe. The skulls of many a patriot, who had given his 
life to his country, were thus used by the rebels at their drunken 
carousel in commemoration of their achievements at the first 
Bull Run battle. 

If their treatment of the dead be such as to receive the exe- 
cration of mankind, what can be said of the horrible cruelty in- 
flicted upon the living when in their power. The fortunes of 
war gave them a number of prisoners at Fort Pillow. Hundreds 
of these men, wounded and helpless, were butchered in cold 
blood — many of them on the day subsequent to the fight. 

Any man in the rebel States daring to avow himself in favor of 
the Government of the United States is butchered by the " Peace 
Democrats " of that region. 

In Randolph county, Alabama, recently, a Union man was 



10 

dragged from his house IpJ the " peace Democracy" and taken 
to a thicket: 

" After consultation il was del s*min,ed '" put bim in the tory's yoke, but, first of 
all, to ti nowledge to. having done and said certain things of which 

la- was innocent. 

"After trying some time .to accomplish their object, by questioning and threaten- 
ipg, Lhey resorted to more severe measures. Untying him, ihey took oh' his cloth- 
ing, laid him down upon a li g, lushed him firmly to it., an.l with lar^e hickory 
sticks commenced lacerating, liim. Four let iu on him at once, and the numbers 
Boon i icreae ' : C*li continued to beat liim there for a long time, pdUBing 

mally and nsking him if be would confess, and upon his refusing would let in 
on him mot e vi 

" 11k' bl. kkI trickled from his back in streams. in behalf of 

mercy were totally disregarded. J, and the] r i i - ■ 

and was lost to c ion veral minutes As - i i as he revived these hell- 

ish tormentors i • ■ umed I h«ir tortures. They split the ends of green sticks and twist- 
ing then in his hair and pulling violently, caused the mosl excruciating pain, This 
a d i hi liendi It op rations were continued for some time. The} - then cut oil' his 
fingers al the s< 1 joint, as also his ears close up to his head. 

"The next step was to cut off his arms al the elb »ws, and the legs at the knees. 
After this operation the wretched victim fainted, and failing to recover for several 
minutes the murderers pronounced him dead and beg n to prepare to leave, but at 
this moment their victim showed signs of life. The} now tied a rope around his 
neck, and hung him to a limb near by, and instantly decamped." 

Wlio that has read of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition — 
the rack, and the other modes of punishment there adopted — 
without a feeling of utter detestation for its founders \ 

The cruelties inflicted on the soldiers of the Republic at Libby 
Prison and Belle Island, are more horrible than those perpetrated 
in the secret ceils of the great engine of hell, as the Inquisition 
has been called. 

A history of those horrors would fill volumes; bat we can only 
now glance at them. 

Andrew J. Munn, of Company A, in the 100th Ohio Regiment, 
thus Speaks of facts occurring under his own observation at Belle 
Island: 

"The next morning we were parcelled and sent t > Chat hell on earth', Belle Island 
whi re I wil ie sed sights of suffering lor months th horrible — awful — posi- 

tively inde ribable, arid chHl the blood ■ diet 1 the hearl with an agony of pity 
to remember. Day after day I have been forced to witness the slow, fearful death 
by starvation, of scores of our nobl 11 and bo hear their agonizing rajahs and 

incnhi pent raving*, and pleading for something to sootl •• th ■ pains of hunger. They 
would sometimes, when in this half-crazed -condition, ask for something to save their 
lives, which they dMld feel slipping away. And their brutal jailor would drag them 
from their Buffering couches, declaring thai they would show them how to addrefs 
gentlemen, ai^l, despite their I emaciated condition, hack ami gag the poor 

and force them to lie for hours beneath the scorching rays of the sun, and 
many times when they went to release I i „ ferers they would find a stiffened 

oorpse, with the sunken eyes glazed in death, tl B h tre&tmeiil having 1 pped 

the frail thread of life, an I the p ior victim b in he reach of their 

cul ion. 

"Our' poor fellow, being reduced by starvation and ill-usage to a mere skeleton, 
and co i id, crawl d one da} ip ou a bank uear his tenl to get a little 

fresh di' hi face burning; with fever; hut no i tad d the summit of 

the bank and sat. down trembling with extreme exhaustion that the exertion had 



11 

cost him, when the sentinel leaped upon the bank and harshly ordored hip) to get 
down or lie would shoot hiiu. The poor boy staggered to his feet at once, knowing 
full well what would be the consequence of hesitation, and atternptad to pet out of 
sight, ; but before he could turn round the rebel demon raised his gun and fired, the 
ball passing through the poor boy's side, who rolled down the batik and expired 
without a groan, his heart's blood spirting in jets from the ghastly wound 

"Another time a lot of our boj'fi were crowded in a close, narrow, and filthy cell, 
scarce ten feel wide, with but one small, grated window for light and air, and some 
being siek were obliged to lie down, and, in cpnsequence, t the men were huddled and 
the air foul and oppressive; and one young fellow, who was almost suffocated, arose 
and put his face up to the window to get breath, when the guard upon the outside, 
■without the slightest provocation, shot, him through the head, his blood and brains 
bespattering his comrad s inside of the cell, who, with a low, thrilling cry of hor- 
ror, contemplated this brutal and cold-blooded murder of their unfortunate comrade 
without the power of even a remonstrance, for fear of sharing a like tate." 

The testimony taken before the Committee on the Conduct of 
the War is of similar character. The surgeon who had charge ol 
many returned prisoners at Baltimore thus speaks of them : 

" Wett's Buildings Hospital, 

"Baltimore, Md , May 24, 1864. 
"Dear Sir: I have the honor to enclose the photograph of John Breinig, with 
the desired informition written upon it I am very sorry your committee could not 
have seen these csises when first received. No one, from these pictures, can form a 
true estimate of their condition then. Not one in ten was able to stand alone; some 
of them so covered and eaten by vermin that they nearly resembled cases of small 
pox, and so emaciated that they were really living skeletons, and hardly that, as 
the result shows, forty out of one hundred aud four having died up to this date. 

" If there has been anything so horrible, so fiendish, as this wholesale starvation, 
in the history of this sa'anic rebellion, I have failed to note it Better the massa- 
cres at Lawrence, Fort Pillow, and Plymouth than to be thus starved to death by 
inches, through lorn* and weary months. I wish I possessed the power to compel 
all the northern sympathizers with this rebellion to come in and look upon the work 
of the chivalrous sons of. the hospitable and sunny South when these skeletons were 
first received here. A rebel colorie), a prisoner here, who stood with sad face look- 
ing on as they were received* finally shook his hesid and walked away, apparently 
ashamed that he held any relations to men who could be guilty of such deeds. 
"Very respectfully. \our obedient servant, 

"A. CHAPEL. 
"Hon. B. F. Wade, 

Chairman of Committee on the Conduct of the War" 

Photographs were taken of a few of these victims of the hu- 
mane treatment by our innocent SoutJcern brethren, and printed 
in the report of the committee. A portion of these are here pre- 
sented. Look at them on (he last page, and remember that the 
perpetrators of these damnable cruelties are the " Peace Dem- 
ocrats" of the South, whom Jo. McDonnald, Dan Voorhees, and 
Vallandigham are so anxious to hug to their affectionate bosoms, 
and the fathers and brothers of those who have suffered fry star- 
vation and death are called upon to elect such men to office. 

These men say they want peace, and, to accomplish it, they 
are willing to let their co-conspirators prescribe the terms. 

The only conditions yet offered them, are the following, pub- 
lished in the Richmond Examiner of the 16th of last October. 
Read them : 



" F ; avp on our own terms, we can accept no peace whatever, and must fight till 
doomsday rather I I one iota of them ; ami our terms are: 

" Recognition by the enemy of the Confedera 

"Withdrawal of the Yankee forces from every foot of Confederate ground, ir.- 
cluding Kentucky and Missouri. 

'•Withdrawal of Yai ra from Maryland until that State shall- dec: I 

a free vote, whether she shall remain in the old Union or ask admission into the 
Conic lei acy. 

"Cone ' on t he part of the Federal Government to give up to the Confederacy 

•portion of the Navy as it stood at the time of the secession, or pay lor the 

s line. 

•' Yielding up all pretensions on the part of the Federal Government to that por- 
tion of the old Territories which lies west of the Confederate Sta 

"An equili ment. or: the basis of our absolute independence and equal 

rights, of all accounts of the Public Debt and Public Lands, and the advantages ac- 
cruing from foreign t; 

"Tiie.-- provisions, we apprehend, comprise the minimum of what we must require 
before we lay down our arms. That is to say, the North must yield nil ; we,ito- 
thing. The whi! >n of that country to prevent by fo paration of 

the States musl ii- ah ndoned, which will he an equivalent to an avowal that our 
ene nies were wrong from the first; and.- of course, as they waged a causeless and 
wicked war upon us, they ought^ in strict justice, to be required, according to usage 
in such cases, to reimburse to us the whole of our expenses and losses in the course 
of that war." 

These are the terms of peace; and the Enquirer says further: 

"As surely as we completely ruin their armies — and without that is no peace nor 
truce at all — so surely ahull we make them pay our war debt, though ice wring it outof 
their hearts.'" 

Are the people of Indiana willing to get down into the dirt 
and accept such terms ! 

These men cry "peace, peace." If they want peace why not 

say to their co-conspiritors, "you mads the war and you can 

make peace. Disband your armies — go to your homes — obey the 

—maintain the union of all the States and their authority, 

and you can have peace." Why do they not do so? 

No man more earnestly desires peace than he whose sworn 
duty it is to make every possible effort to maintain the Union ; 
but he wants that peace which can only bo secured and perpetu- 
ated by the overthrow of the rebellion and return of the people 
to their allegiance to the Government. This, under God, ami by 
the assistance of the loyal portion of the people, he will accom- 
plish. 

In the last speech made by Judge Douglas on the rebellion, he 
said: 

"Tli v is known. Annies have been raised, war is levied to accom- 

plish it. Th< i are are only two aides to the question. Every man must be for the 
; States or against it. Their can be no neutrals in this war, only patriots and 

Judge Douglas was right. That is the only issue; all others 
are raised to deceive the people. Let no man, by his act, sub- 



13 

ject himself to be pointed at in after times as a traitor to his 
country ; nor let him do anything, in thisdread hoar, which shall 
cause his children to blush for shame when he snail have left the 

land of the living. 

The rebellion in favor of extending and perpetuating slavery- 
brought the continuance of that institution directly in issue. To 
aid in putting the rebellion down it was determined to liberate 
the slaves, as far as possible, and to use them in our armies. 
Availing themselves of the existing prejudice against the negro, 
the northern aiders and abetors of the rebellion have proclaimed 
that the only object of the war is to place the negro upon a social 
equality with the whites! 

The only answer to which such trash is entitled is, to give the 
leaders of the "peace Democracy" assurances that no law shall be 
enacted to prevent their associating with negroes on as perfect 
equality as they may desire, provided the consent of the negroes 
.themselves be first obtained ! 

It may be that Providence has permitted the rebellion for the 
purpose of forever settling the slavery question. It may be that 
the prayers of the slaves for deliverance, which have ascended 
to God for two hundred years, have been heard at last ; and it may 
be, that, in His Divine Wisdom, the present is the time selected 
for the last shackle to be wrested from the lacerated limbs of hu- 
manity ; and if so, who will not joyfully exclaim, " Let God's will 
be done ! " 

In its consummation behold the grand and glorious spectacle ! 
Instead of a government founded on the sighs and groans of men 
and women, as contemplated in the establishment of the southern 
confederacy, we shall have a free and united Republic, whose 
happiness and prosperity, and all the elements of greatness shall 
be far greater than ever before known in history. 

ISTo other man than he who now tills the Executive Chair of 
the nation ever had so great a responsibility resting upon him. 
Called to his position by the suffrages of the people, he dare not 
shrink from the performance of his duty. That amid all the cares 
and terrible anxieties of his position, he has honestly and faith- 
fully endeavored to perform that duty none can reasonably doubt. 
That he has always done what subsequent events have shown to 
ba the wisest thing to be done, no one pretends. It is not given 
to man to see into futurity, nor to any one an infaliable judgment ; 
and yet, when the pen of impartial history shall record the events 
of the present time, all honor will be awarded to the man who 



M 

6 faithfully stood by his country in her hour of greatest peril, 
and against whose sagacity and sfa et nanship so little can be 
justly said. 

The life of that country depends on his re election. Defeated, 

an ignominious peace will surely follow. The constitution 

of ihe slave confederacy will he adopted by all the States, and 

this continent will become a vast slave empire, to be ruled over 

by the most hated aristocracy that ever cursed mankind. 

Are the people prepared for such an ending to the present 
for this that they have been p uiring out their 
life's blood for the last three yeiars ? Are they willing nOw to 
how their necks in abject submission to the yoke of those who 
have been murdering their neighbors, friends and sons, in cold 
blood, or starving them to death in infernal prisons? 

If not, then go to the polls in October, as preparatory for the 
Presidential conflict in November, and sustain those who are up- 
holding the Government, and all will be well. The Republic 
will live and go on increasing in prosperity and happiness from 
age to acre. 



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